


Keeping Her Safe

by sanctum_c



Series: Some Kinda Lady 2016 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Cloud might have fallen, but Tifa and Barret now have to get clear of the reactor.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Barret Wallace
Series: Some Kinda Lady 2016 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1999702
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Keeping Her Safe

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Fighting"

Cloud vanished into the gloom beneath the plate as the reactor exploded, the catwalk juddering and shaking beneath Tifa's feet. Barret yelled, his voice shockingly close, though barely audible above the ringing in her ears. His arms were around her - holding her back. No. No, he was keeping her safe; stopping her from plummeting to earth like Cloud. There was nothing beneath her hands and she struggled to grab hold of something, anything. The twisted blackened edges of the catwalk were hot and sharp beneath her palms. She grimaced, shifting to clutch at Barret’s arm, still unbalanced. There was almost nothing between her and the drop in front of her. "We gotta go," Barret said.

Tifa nodded, moving with Barret as he retreated. Not far to solid ground - as solid as the shuddering catwalk could be after the twinned damage of the reactor and robot explosions. She shuffled after Barret, her hand grabbing the painfully thin rail as tight as she could, the fifty metres of air seperating her from the slums all too vivid. Tifa gritted her teeth; the upper plate was no place to be - solid ground, the slums, safe under the plate. Soon as possible. Barret had taken her hand at some point and was taking slow deliberate steps as he kept pace with her. The reactor was a flaming mess to her left; the only way out now was ahead and back into sector four. From there they should be able to reach a connecting bridge or find some transport cross-plate until they could get a train back down to the slums.

Would Shinra be waiting for them ahead? Getting on the nearest train would be nothing short of naive, but how confident was the President in the abilities of the so-called Airbuster? While the machine had not injured any of them, the destruction of it's damaged, broken form had sent Cloud plummeting to his death if nothing else. No. SOLDIERs were strong weren't they? But were they that strong to survive that kind of fall? No time to think about that now; she just had to trust Cloud was still alive. And that she could eventually make sense of his confusing claims, his insistence they met five years previously. Too many of her own memories now felt suspect from the time her home burned; had she really forgotten he was there?

The catwalk no longer reverberated with each step as they reached the doorway to sector four. Emergency lights tinged everything red while behind them the mako-fueled fire burned a bright green. "You okay?" Barret was breathing heavily, the air unpleasantly thick with mako fumes.

"Yeah," Tifa replied. He was still holding her hand and she saw no reason to let go; his touch was comforting in amongst the mayhem.

"Tifa, Spik- I mean Cloud, he'll be okay. Right?" He looked oddly concerned, despite the fights, the confrontations and Cloud flat out demanding money they could not easily afford. The Avalanche leader might not fully trust their mercenary, but he was not about to wish harm on her friend. This was the other side of Barret Wallace, the one he kept hidden to strangers. The father and widower. The man who wanted to save the Planet.

"He will be. And thank you," Tifa said. She reached up to kiss his cheek.

"What was that for?" Barret turned to peer through the doorway - not quite quick enough to hide the flush spreading across his cheeks.

"For keeping me safe. Again."

"Don't have to thank me for that." Barret cursed. "Looks like they left some guards behind. Guess we're going to have to fight our way out."

"We can do it." Tifa raised her fists. "As long as we stick together."


End file.
